Railway-traffic-controlling apparatus.



L. v. LEWiS RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

7 APPLICATION FILED JAN.2.1915. mwma. Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

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L. V. LEWES.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS. a APPLlCATlON man JAN.2,1915. V LLQ'KJQLQQ Patentedbept. 12,1916.

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L. V. LEWIS.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC commune APPARATUS.

w APPLICATION FILED JAN-2,1915. 1 1 9 L942, Patented Sept. 12, 191i).

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RAILWAY-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLIN G APPARATI IS.

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To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, LLOYD V. Lnwrs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Edgewood borough, in the county. of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments' in Railway-Traliic-Controlling Apparatus, of which the following is a 'specification. I

My invention relates to railway trafiic controlling apparatus, and particularly to apparatus for controlling the speed of railway cars or trains. I I will describe one form of apparatus embodying my invention, and will" then point out the novel features-thereof in claims.

In the accompanying is a view showing in side elevation one form of apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a view showing in paratus shown in Fig. 1 looking fro'm'the left. Fig. 3 is a view showing in end elevation'thc apparatus shown in Fig. 1 looking from theright. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic 2,5 view showing a railway signaling system ineluding one form of trackway apparatus embodying my invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2 and 3,31

(lesignates'one of the track rails of a rail- I way over WhlCll trafiic 4Q t he direction of the/arrow. Mounted on a vehicle, such as a car or locomotive, 'is'asuit- 1n counter-clockwise able fra1ne3'7 in which is journaled a shaft 2, and secured tothis shaft is a depending trip arm 36 which is adapted to engage and ehe moved by two trips 32, 32 located ll'f the trackway. As here shown, each of these. trips is stationary and is therefore always in tripping or operative position, that is, in such position that it will be engaged by the drip arm 36. Also, as here shown each trip is provided with an inclined surface, which surface is such that the lower end of arm 36 Specification of Letters Iiatent.

. prises arm -4 can telescope arm drawings, Figure 1 end elevation the ap-. V

Fig. 5 is a .VieW' showing a signaling system similar to thatin Fig. 4, but including another form showing a railway of cars or trains on moves normally in Patented Sept. 12, 1916.

Application filed January 2, 1915. serial no. 103.

will ride upwardly thereon, so that when the arm engages the trip, it will be, swung upwardly withoutsudden shock or blow. Mounted in the frame 37 is arms 3 and swing, freely thereon. As shown' more clearly in Fig, 2, each of these arms c0mtwo plates 3, 3 and 4, 4, the plates 4 being located between the Plates 3, 3 are united at their lower ends by a stud 3, and plates 4 are similarly united by a stud 4*. The arms 3 and 4 are drawn toward each other by a spring 5 which is attached to studs 3 and 4".

ounted in the plates of arm 3 is a stud 6 carrying a roller 6, and mounted in arm is a similar stud 16 to swing freelythereon is another arm 8 comprising two parallel plates asshown in Fig. 2, which plates are heldtogether and properly spaced by platesa-re. located between p'lates 4, 4, with such clearance that for thispurpose, and the arm '8 is biased to i this pos tion y gravity and by the action of a spring 9 co necting pin 1 with a stud l1 mounted in one of the plates of "arm ,4. It

arm :on pin 10, and prevehted, arm 8 W111 shownas soon as arm plates 3 so thatr 3 and each can SWIIIg freely with respect to the other.

direction on" stud 7 owpins 10 and 11. These arm, 8-can swing freely provided however for Suitably journaled in the framed? is a shaft 18 one end of which is threaded at 18*,

and to the other end of which is fixed a gear Wheel 38. This gear wheel meshes with a pinion 39 attached to the shaft of an electric motor M whereby shaft 18 may at times be rotated as hereinafter explained.

19 is a movable stop, here shown as being a traveler the under surface of which is coneaved and provided with teeth which are adapted to mesh with the threads 18 on shaft. 18, whereby traveler 19 is moved toward the right when shaft 18 is rotated and the traveler is in mesh with the threads 18. A pin 25 passes through the traveler 25,

"and journaled on this pin on opposite sides of the traveler ar'e guide .wheels 25 and 25 which are located between guide bars 26, 27

and 26, 27 respectively (see Fig.3), which bars are mounted in the frame 37. The upper. and lower guide bars for each guide wheel are so spaced that the traveler is capa-' ble of slight vertical movement, 'suflicient to v enable it to move into and out of mesh'with thethreads on shaft 18. y This clearance is plainly shown in Fig. 3. The traveler 19 is pivotally mounted in a' lever 21 comprising two plates as shown in Fig. 3, that is, the pin 25 passes through holes in these plates so that,'the traveler. can swing in the lever.

, This lever 21 is pivotally mounted in the vertical arm of a bell crank lever 22 which is in turn pivotally mounted on a pin 23 in the frame 37. This lever 21'is biased by tWo weights 20,20 so that traveler 19 is normally held against the upper guide bars 26, 26 and so is out of mesh with thethreads 18 on-shaft18. The horizontal arm of hell crank lever 22 carries a weight 24 which tends to swing lever 21 and traveler 19 to the left; but this movement is normally prevented by the engagement of the traveler with -the end of arm 8.

3 Attached tothe end of arm' 8 is block 12 of insulating material in which is'mounted a contact bridging member 12 adapted, when arm '8 is raised, to bridge two contact fingers 128, 28 mounted in frame 37, and thus close the circuit for motor M as hereinafter explained.

Pivotally mounted on the stud 7 between the two plates of arm 8 is an arm 13 having a tail piece or extension 13 which normally.

rests againstpin 11. Arm 13 is connected by a link 14 with a tongue 15 mounted on stud 1G. The tongue 15 is adapted, at times, when .moved to the left, to engage a lever-17 pivotally mounted on a pin 17 in the frame 37, and when this happens the lever '17 presses a stem 49 tothe left. This stein is adapted to control the car or locomotive in!" any suitable manner, such 'for example fishy caus ing an application of the brakes. Owing. to

the fact that tail piece 13* restsagainst pin 11, the tongue 15 is normally held'out of position to operate stem 49 when arm 3 is swung outwardly by cam 1, but when arm 8 is raised it allows tongue 15 to swing down net is provided with a circuit including the end 36 of trip arm 36, this end being insulated from the rest of the trip arm. One terminal of the'magnet 29 is grounded on the car or locomotive by a wire 46 and the other terminal is connectedby a wire 45 with the insulated portion 36 of trip arm 36, Located. in the trackway is a sourceof current 35, one terminal of which is directly connected with track rail 31 by a wire 4:7; the other terminal of source is at times connected with the trip 32* by a wire 4.4, this latter wire. being opened and closed by a contact 51, which may be operated by any suitable means, such for example, as by a railway signal governing traiiic over the track in advance of trip 32. lVhen the contact 51 is thus controlled, itwould ordinarily be opened or closed according as the signal indicates proceed or stop.

It will be seen that when the trip arm 36 engages trip 32, if contact .51 1s closr'i the tongue 15 will be retained in the mop; .ztive position, or will be raisedto the inoperative position if it is not already there.

The operation of the entire apparatus is as follows: Asthe car or hicoinotive pix); ceeds along the trackway in the direction indicated by the arrow, arm 36 is swung in clockwise direction by trip thus swing of arm 3 moves tongue 15 to the left, but inasmuch as this ongue is raised above arm 1.7 it does not o crate the stem 49. The outwardniovement of'arm 4 swings arm 8 upwardly through the medium of pinlO, and the consequent upward movement of pin 11 allows arm 13 to swing in counter-clockwise direction around stud 7, thereby lowering tongue 15 into position for engagement with arm 17. After the arm .36 passes off of trip 32, arms 3 and rt are -immediately brought l;. 8 nurmakposition by spring 5,

butkvhile arm 8 was-inthe raised position,

theiravele'r 19 was moved to the left, owing to the influence of weight 24;. sothat the return movement of arm 8 is prcycnted by ti11Si1HYel612. The weight. of arm 8 and the tension of spring?) are such that arm 8 overcomes the action of eounternweights 20 and presses traveler 1!) ante engagement with the threaded portion 18 ofshaft 18.

.Arm 8 being now in the elevated position. Y the budgmg member 12 bridges contact ilnl ing arms 3 and l outwardly. The operation will also be raised away from shaft 18 by the counter-weights whereby the speed ofthe motor ismain- As the car or along the trackway,

tained at a constant value. locomotive continues the trip arm 36 is again swung by trip 32. i

I will first assume. that contact 51 is open so that magnet 29 is inoperative; Then if the time consumed by the car or locomotive in moving from trip to trip 32 the traveler 19 will have moved end of arm 8 and this arm will have been drawn downwardly, thereby raising tongue 15 before arm 36 strikes trip 32*; the consequent operation of arm 3 by trip 32 will then not cause a brake application. If, however, the time consumed by the car or beyond the locomotive in passing from trip 32 to trip 32 was not suflicient for traveler 19 to releasearm 8, then when arm 36 is swung by trip 32, the outward movement of arm 3 will cause tongue 15 to swing arm 17, thereoperating stem 49 and causing a brake application. Obviously when traveler '19 has released arm 8, this arm will swing downwardly thereby opening the circuit or motor M at contacts 28 and traveler 19 20, 20. Assuming now that contact 51-is closed when the'trip arm 36' reaches trip 32, then if the time consumed by theoar' in moving from trip 32 to trip 32 has been sufficient to allow traveler 19 to release arm 8, then the energization of magnet 29 has no 1nfluence .on tongue 15 because this tongue has already been raised by arm 8; but if the time consumed by the car between the two trips has not been sufiicient to permit traveler 19 to release arm 8, thenwhen trip arm 36 engages trip 32*, magnet 29 will be come energized and will raise tongue 15 to the: inoperative position before this tongue has been moved to the left by arm' 36, so that, application of the brakes will be avoided Henceit will be seen that if contact 51'is closed, the brakes will not be applied regardless of the speed of the car betweenvtrips 32 and 32% If, however, contact 51 is open, then the permissiveflspeed depends upon the distance between the'two trips; that is, for a given distance between these trips if the car be moving at signals S, S, etc. which signals may be controlled in any suitable manner. Located adfor example as 5 miles .by the vehicle. ;adapted to indicate' connected from car reaches the a speed below a predetermined value a brake apph loc 'imotive m dvement ag til "brake application will be avoided. But

when a signal indicates stop, as does signal S, the adjacent trip 32 is deenergized; when then a car or locomotive passes the trips at such speed that the traveler .19 releases arm 8 before the second trip 32 is en countered, a brake application is avoided, but if the speed is such that the traveler 19 does not release the arm 8 before the second trip is encountered, the brakes are applied. The permissivespeed when the signal indicates.stop will usually be quite low, such per hour, in accord ancewith the usual practice in automatic signaling.

that as a car or locomo- Referring now to Fig. 5, {have here 1 shown an arrangement of the trac'kway apto the permissive -speed at which the vehicle may pass the next signal if the latter contion the speed will be reduced by degrees t'inues to indicate stop i when it is'reached Each signal in this case is and stop. "Located signal area plurality of trips, 32, 32, etc, the distance between each two adjacent trips decreasing progressively from a maximum proceed l, caution f 1n the rear of each farthest from the signal to a minimum nearest to the signal, Each trip except the one farthest from the signal is connected with battery by contact 51 when the signal indicates proceed or caution, and is disthe battery when the signal indicates stop. Theoperation is as fol lows. -When a car dieating proceed 8 will be raised by the trip farthest in the rear of the signal, but regardless of whether this arm has ileen released by the time the second trip, the brakes will not be applied because. this trip is energized.-

,l'l he second tripwill release the traveler 19 'oi 1,.-the. car thus allowing it to be restored to the hand end of its stroke so as to begin a'in, but regardless of the speed therar it will not be stopped by the thirdti'ip because this trip is also energized. For a. similar reason, each succeeding trip will be ineffective to control the car, so that the car may passthe signal at any desired approaches a signal inorcaut1on, the arm speed. When, however, a car or locomotive apprdaches a signal indicating stop, the arm '8 will beraised by the tr p farthest in the" rear of the signal, and unless the speed of the car between this trip and the trip next in advance is at or below a predetermined value, the brakes will be applied by the second trip. If the speed is such that the arm 8 has been released before the secondtrip is encountered, then this second trip will again raise the arm 8, so that the traveler 19 will again start to release the arm 8, and if this release has not been accomplished before the third trip is encountered, the brakes will be applied by the third trip. The distance between each two adjacent trips is such ,that when the signal indicates stop the speed of the car or locomotive must be gradually reduced as it approaches the signal in order to avoid an application of the brakes.

Referring now to Fig. 6, I have here shown a portion of a. railway track including a curve. Located in the rear of the curve are two trips 32 and 32?" spaced at motive must be reduced to a safe value for the curve 1n, order to avold anapplicatmn' of the brakes by the second trip 32.

Although I have herein shown and described only certain forms of apparatus in my' invention, it is understood that various changes and fnodifications' may be made therein within the scope of the appended an operative and an inoperative positionj and said member-being biased to the operative position, means controlled by the trip arm-when operated ,byith e first track trip for permitting movement of said member to its operative position,-,slow-acting means for returning said member to its inoperative position, and vehicle controlling means operated by said member when it is moved' the trip arm .when in the operative position.

2. Speed ,eontrolling' apparatus for rail- Ways, comprising. ,a;trip arm carried by a.

' vehicle,space d' trips in the trackway each I is operatedby, v v v an; operative and" an moperat ve/pos ti'on,

adapted tooperatesaid trip arm, amember move'dby-said trip arm each time the latter a trip, said member having and said member being biased the operative position, means controlled by the trip arm when operated 'byithe first track trip for permitting movement elfsaid member to its operative position, sldw-acting means for returning said member to its inoperativeposition,electromagnetic means for also returning'said member to the inoperative position, and vehicle-controlling means operated by said member when it is moved by the trip arm and is in the operative position.

3. Speed controlling apparatus for railway s,compris1ng a trip arm carried by a vehicle, spaced trips in the trackway each.

adapted to'operate said trip arm, two arms on the vehicle which arms are moved each time the 'trip arm is operated by a track trip, a member moved by one of said arms, said member having an operative and: an

inoperative position and said member being biased to. the inoperative position, means controlled by the other of, said arms for moving the member to its operative position, slow-acting means for controlling the return of said member to itsv inoperative position, and vehicle-controlling means op erated by said member when it min the operative'position and is moved by the first.

mentioned arm. such distance that the speed of aj car or. loco- 4:. Speed controlling apparatus for rail ways, comprising a trip arm carried by a 'vehicle, spaced trips in the trackway each adapted to operate said trip arm, a movable member onthe vehicle biased in one direction, a motor, a screw operatively connected with said motor, a. traveler adapted to ride on the screw,zmea-ns for mounting the traveler to move into and out of engagement with the screw and to move into and out ofthe path of said member, said traveler being biased to move out of engagement with the screw and to move into-the'path otthe member and said traveler being normallyprevented from the last-mentioned -movement by abutting against an end of the member, means controlled by the trip arm I for moving said member in opposition to its bias out of the-path of the traveler whereby the traveler thenanoves into the path of the member and is also moved into engagementjtvith the screw by the action of the member on the traveler, means controlled by the member when in the last-mentioned position for energizing the motor whereby the traveler is moved out of the path of the member after a predetermined interval of time, and means contrplled by said trip arm and by said member for governing the vehiclewhen the trip arm is operated. by, a track tripand the member has not been released by the traveler.

5. Railway speed controlling apparatus.

compris ng. a trip arm mounted on a vehimews-e ing an operative and an inoperative position means for holding said member normally in the inoperative position, means operated by the tnp arm for releasing said holding means, slow-acting means tor retarding the inoperative position.

return of said holding means to the holding position, electromagnetic means distinct irom said holding means for returnlng said member toits inoperative position, an error-- gizing circuit for said electromagnetic means including the insulated portion of said trip arm and one of said track trips, and vehicle controlling means operated by said member when the member is moved by the trip arm and is in the operative},posi-w tion.

6. Railway speed controlling apparatus comprlsmg spaced trips located in the trackway, a member carried by a vehicle and adapted to be actuated byeachof said trips i in succession, vehicle controlling means on the vehiclefbrought into operative condition by the actuation of the member is the first trip and adaptedto be operated the actustion of thc,member by the second trip to controlthe vehicle, time controlled means for returning said nieansto its inoperative position, and electromagnetic means for holding said vehicle-controlling means in its 7. Railway speed controlling apparatus comprising spaced trips located in the trackway, a member carried by a vehicle and adapted to be actuated by each of said trips in succession, vehicle controlling means on the vehicle brought into operative condition by the actuation of the -mem-ber by the first trip and adapted to be operated by the actuation oi the member. by the second trip to control the vehicle, time controlled means for returning; said means to its inoperative.position, and electromng netic means for returning said vehicle-com trolling means. to its inoperative position upon engagement .of the member and the second trip if said vehicle-controlling means has not already been returned.

8. Railway speed controlling apparatus comprising spaced trips located in the trackway, a member carried by a; vehicle and adapted to be actuated by each of said trips in succession, vehicle controlling means on the vehicle brought into operative condition. by the actuation of the member by the first trip and adapted to be operated by the octuation ofthe member Toy the second trip to control the vehicle, time controlled means for returning sold means to inoperative position, electromagnetic means for also reand being biased to the iormierpos1t1ofi,-

and the secondcessioni, vehicle-controlling means adapted when in inoperative position to be brought into operative positionhy the first trip ac tuation of said member and, to be operated.

l? the next trip actuation of said member i it has not been returned to the inoperative position, time controlled means for returning said vehicle controlling means to the inoperative position, and electromagnetic means for also returning said vehicle-conupon engagement of said member with each trip except the first of the series.

" 10. In railway signaling, a. signal, a trip arm carried by a vehicle, a plurality of" trips located in the trackwey in the rear of said signal and each adapted tooperate soid trip arm, the distance between-each two adjacent trips decreasing progressively ironic maxi mum farthest from the signal to :1 minimum.

nearest the signal, a member on the vehicle capable of an operative and an inoperative position and biased to the operative POSlftion, holding means for retaining said member in the inoperative position, moons controlled by the trip arm for operating seid holding means to release said member, slow acting means forpreventin thereturn of said holding means for e. reoletermined interval of time, electromagnetic means for moving said member to the inoperative position independently of the said holding means, a circuit forsaid electromagnetic means including said trip arm, means controlled by the signal for energizing each trip except the one farthest from the signal or for deenergizing said trips according as the signal indicates proceed or stop,-and vehicle controlling means operated by said member when the member ismoved by the trip'arm. and-is in the operative position.

In testimony whereof l my signature in presence of two Witnemes.

LLUYD LlElWS.

i l itnesses":

A. L. Vnnonm', A. S; Home.

I till trolling means to the inoperative position 

